Challus Mercer
Doctor Challus Mercer was a scientist aboard the USG Ishimura, and is portrayed as a devout Unitologist, to the point of zealotry. Mercer became fanatically obsessed with the Necromorphs after the ship is compromised and the infection spreads; he believed them to be the successors to the human race and that their ability to reanimate necrotic flesh is a sort of life after death. Biography The Second Aegis 7 Incident He performed several medical experiments on the crew of the USG Ishimura, one of which resulted in the Hunter. While ordinary necromorphs are produced by the infection of corpses, audio logs suggest that Mercer's experiments were aimed at transmitting the infection to still living subjects, which may have been what caused the hunter's unique regenerative properties. When Isaac Clarke encountered Dr. Mercer, he appeared psychologically unstable - He advocated mass suicide amongst the crew and kept severed human body parts in his office. He viewed the human race as obsolete in the face of the Necromorphs, even to the extent of assisting the infection by deliberate sabotage of Ship systems. He viewed Isaac Clarke's struggle to survive as admirable but misguided, and attempted to kill him on several occasions by both having the Hunter attack Isaac and shutting off life support in sections of the Ishimura Isaac traveled through. He also murdered Jacob Temple and Elizabeth Cross, the former in front of Isaac. Fate After Isaac finally destroyed the Hunter, Mercer allowed himself to be killed by an Infector, thereby becoming a Necromorph - an Enhanced Slasher.Dead Space: Chapter 10: End of Days Isaac Clarke encountered the changed Mercer and destroyed him.If the player is fast enough, the Infector can be killed before the transformation can be completed. Personality Before his descent into madness, it can be assumed that Mercer was a loyal and hardworking crew member aboard the ''Ishimura. ''After the Necromorphs arrived however, he became completely insane and attempted to aid them in their assault on the ship, believing that they are sent by god to destroy humanity. Speculation As opposed to Dr. Kyne and Isaac Clarke, who appear to have received visions via the Red Marker with the intent to hinder or altogether stop the infections progress, Dr. Mercer's madness - if it was not a product of the situation he was in - was geared towards the furthering of the spread of the infection. Gallery File:mercerriglink.png|Mercer during a transmission to Isaac via Isaac's RIG. Trivia *It is also an interesting fact that he knows about the Hive Mind, exposed in Chapter 5 where he clearly asks Isaac "not to spurn the Hive Mind's offering", referring to the Necromorph infection. *It is a mystery as to how Mercer managed to survive for so long after the infection spread to the ship - let alone how he managed to move around the ship without being attacked by the Necromorphs. Though he might have used the ventilation shafts like Hammond; but this is debatable. A more feasible explanation, is that the Necromorphs don't seem to attack people under heavy delusions by the Marker or Hive Mind, as shown by Natalia Deshyanov. *Of all the people on the ship, Mercer seems to be the most insane: he creates The Hunter from a living subject in his quest to understand the Necromorph "gods". His freezing of Necromorphs to bring back to Earth, intending to make sure the human race was transformed into Necromorphs, is a further example of the depths of his madness. *It is interesting to note that, although Mercer was insane, he was still able to point out those who were under the influence of the Marker, as he did when detailing how Dr. Kyne mentioned speaking to his wife (Noting that "Amelia Kyne has been dead for several years"). Of course, whether or not he made this recording before he plunged into true madness or not is debatable. *It should be noted that Mercer sacrifices himself in the room right before the room leading to Zero G Basketball. It can be assumed that he was the one who killed the many girls whose faces have been covered with a cloth. Reasons for speculation are that in a previous chapter, Mercer is seen stabbing a stake like object through the head of a survivor. If you look closely at the bodies you can see they faced a similar death. Perhaps he does this to make it easier for an infector to create a slasher. *Often, Marker relics are found near Mercer; the first being the small black marker in his office and second being the slightly larger one on the table where he allows the infector to kill him. *Navid Negahban is the voice and likeness of Mercer. *In Chapter 5, (in the room where you submit the alien DNA to the poison capsule) you will see a shelf with several heads in jars. If you look on the table below, you will see a blue book called "Field Medicine" with the USM Valor's logo on the cover, even though the Valor has not yet arrived at the Ishimura's location. It could be argued Dr. Mercer was somehow involved with the Valor in some way prior to it's arrival. *It is possible that the Hive Mind contacted Mercer's mind, and driving him insane in the process. This would explain why he wasn't initially killed and infected. And his death could be the Hive Mind "executing" him for his inability to kill Isaac. Notes Sources Category:Characters Category:Deceased